'The Master'

Oscar-nominated for all of its key performances, writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson's compelling and challenging drama casts Joaquin Phoenix as a troubled World War II veteran who falls under the spell of an influential man (the superb Philip Seymour Hoffman, in the sort of acting job it's hard to imagine anyone else doing) determined to launch a new social movement.

The lessons go only so far before the student rebels. Amy Adams plays the self-styled leader's wife in a cast that also includes Ambyr Childers, Jesse Plemons ("Friday Night Lights") and Laura Dern. DVD extras: extended and deleted scenes. *** (R: AS, N, P) (Also on Blu-ray and On Demand)